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Rear suspension sagging woes

i had some old saggy leaves on my 3.5" packs
threw in the stock "small" leaf and that seemed to help alot. havent fully loaded it yet, but added about a 1/2" of lift in the rear and made it stiffer. i tried a 1.5" add a leaf with my current leaf packs and it was too much, it ended up adding like 3" in the rear and i couldnt back it outta the garage it was too tall(i have a small garage)
got the stock packs for free basically...
 
I took a look at BigOffRoad. The cost for the springs I'd need (6") is $470, plus shipping. I might also need new shackles if the springs are longer. That's starting to add up.

If I was lightening the load while off-roading I'd go with the air shocks but I usually still have all my gear in back so that doesn't really help. National does a cold re-arch and then makes the added leaf to conform to the existing pack. I might take some weights and measurements and see what they think. I know it's going to be a lot of weight and it may prove to be too much. I'd want to ask BigOffRoad as well so having the numbers won't hurt.

The thing is, the Rubicon packs are probably not sagging, just overloaded by the weight of the Jeep (with spare tire carrier hanging off the back) and all my junk.
 
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I'm still looking into this. I just noticed that Monroe makes a coil over shock that can be used instead of an air shock. The down side is that you can't adjust the pressure to suit the load. The up side is that there's no air lines or bladders to fail.

http://www.shockwarehouse.com/site/...e-Loadleveler-Pair-Jeep-Cherokee-and-Wagoneer

Any thoughts on these?

WrenchMonkey... any reason you went with Gabriel air shocks over Monroe? Obviously I'll need custom length shocks to fit my lift and that could make a difference as to what's available.

It looks like I now have a trip planned for the end of next week and I'd like to bring the Jeep. The shock based solution is sounding better as a quick fix. I'm going to call Rubicon and find out the length of the OME shocks they sell with the lift I purchased.
 
1911Shooter said:
I'm still looking into this. I just noticed that Monroe makes a coil over shock that can be used instead of an air shock. The down side is that you can't adjust the pressure to suit the load. The up side is that there's no air lines or bladders to fail.

http://www.shockwarehouse.com/site/...e-Loadleveler-Pair-Jeep-Cherokee-and-Wagoneer

Any thoughts on these?

WrenchMonkey... any reason you went with Gabriel air shocks over Monroe? Obviously I'll need custom length shocks to fit my lift and that could make a difference as to what's available.

It looks like I now have a trip planned for the end of next week and I'd like to bring the Jeep. The shock based solution is sounding better as a quick fix. I'm going to call Rubicon and find out the length of the OME shocks they sell with the lift I purchased.
Click to expand...

They work great, I run a set in the rear.
I installed them after my OEM leafs started to show the sag, They lifted the rear back up where it belongs.
When I installed my RE 3.5" lift I kept them, I installed a set of 2.5" Detours shock relocators http://www.detoursusa.com/xjstm.php & a set of Bar pin eliminator shock extendors from "E" bay To make them long enough to work with the lift.
I started using them years ago on an old Ford Bronco That had sagging springs, I installed them front & rear on the Ford! Springs never sagged again in the 5 Years I owned it!
 
It looks like I'm boned. None of the air shocks or coilover helper shocks will work with my lift. My static unloaded height is 23" so I need a shock that will extend to 34" or so. I guess it's a leaf spring solution or nothing. Bummer.
 
Damn, miss a couple days and you miss a lot... Lemme try to catch up.

1911Shooter said:
Interesting thought on the air shocks. I've been avoiding them due to the loading on the mounts and lack of backup if one fails.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I was concerned, too. But even if they should fail, it'll just drop the rig back down to where it was before.

1911Shooter said:
If I was lightening the load while off-roading I'd go with the air shocks but I usually still have all my gear in back so that doesn't really help.
Click to expand...

No, it's the other way: I run heavier when I wheel, with all my tools and spares. I run lighter on the street without them.

1911Shooter said:
WrenchMonkey... any reason you went with Gabriel air shocks over Monroe?
Click to expand...

I actually called to order the Monroe MaxAir, just because they had a better spec list available online. But the ShockShop only carries a few sizes of them. They suggested the HiJackers, because they had them in all kinds of sizes.

1911Shooter said:
It looks like I'm boned. None of the air shocks or coilover helper shocks will work with my lift. My static unloaded height is 23" so I need a shock that will extend to 34" or so. I guess it's a leaf spring solution or nothing. Bummer.
Click to expand...

I didn't notice you were running 7" of lift, but even so, do you really manage 34" extension?

I know my jalopy isn't set up for much flex, but I only get about 24 before it lifts a tire. 34 is a LOT.

And you're right, at 34" you won't find an air shock big enough. I'm surprised you found any shonk that long... I think I have the biggest HiJacker, about 26-27 extension.

But if you limit it to 30", and move the shock mounts over the axle, you might make something work.

I'm grasping at straws, that really is a whole lot of droop...

Robert
 
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Well, I haven't actually measured it but...

lifted4.jpg


lifted3.jpg


I'm trying to figure out now much weight is on the rear axle when everything is loaded. It's about 1,800 pounds with nothing in the back and a full tank of fuel. I'm guessing the rear axle loading is going to increase by at least 500 pounds if not more. If I'm going to get new springs, I want to make sure I have my numbers right so I don't go through this again.
 
Well your flex is excellent! heres another option, since you carry so much weight, take a look at gojeeps website on using a small air bag that way once you get to destination you can deflate it and still keep your flex!! it's that or bigoffraod leafs lol..
 
1911Shooter said:
Well, I haven't actually measured it but...
Click to expand...

Well, that is more flex than I get out of mine, but I still can't imagine it's ten inches more...

If you "haven't actually measured," where did you get the number 34?

Robert
 
It looks like the air bags are out too. I just have too much lift. I think doing something with the leaf springs is my only choice. I'm going to call BigOffRoad and see how much weight they think their spring pack can handle.
 
I talked to Rubicon and they gave me some rough numbers based on the lift height and static shock length. I spoke with Gabriel tech support and the longest Hijackers they have are about 26". That's just 3" longer than my static height (which is too low as it is).

I'll take another look at air bags but I didn't find anything before that wouldn't limit droop or compression. Nine inches of travel is just not going to cut it.

I wish I could carry less weight! I've already taken out most of my tools, recovery gear and spares. I used to trailer it and that solved some of the problems but now I'm driving it to go exploring. We end up with 3-4 guys, all our camping gear and all our climbing gear. It adds up.

WrenchMonkey said:
Well, that is more flex than I get out of mine, but I still can't imagine it's ten inches more...

If you "haven't actually measured," where did you get the number 34?

Robert
Click to expand...
 
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1911Shooter said:
I talked to Rubicon and they gave me some rough numbers based on the lift height and static shock length...
Click to expand...

Man, I hate to argue with RE.

But I'd still take the time to measure what you're seeing on your rig.

Just me.

Robert
 
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